Chapter 5 — Nine Years
The SUV moved through the darkness.
Victor sat in the back seat with his hands resting on his knees.
Across from him sat a woman wearing a dark tactical jacket.
She hadn't spoken since he got inside.
Her short dark hair framed a calm, unreadable face. A handgun was secured at her hip.
Beside the driver sat another man.
Victor couldn't see his face clearly.
Agent Elias Ward sat in the passenger seat.
For the first several minutes, nobody said anything.
Victor watched the road through the window.
The gas station disappeared behind them.
Then the surrounding landscape swallowed it.
There were no buildings now.
Only darkness.
Victor broke the silence.
"Where are we going?"
Ward looked at him through the rearview mirror.
"North."
"That's not a location."
"No."
Victor waited.
Ward didn't elaborate.
Victor looked toward the woman opposite him.
"Do you have a name?"
The woman hesitated for a moment.
"Agent Lyra Voss."
Victor nodded.
"Are you a doctor?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
Lyra looked toward Ward.
Ward answered for her.
"Because we don't know what you are."
Victor stared at him.
"That's reassuring."
Ward almost smiled.
"We're not trying to reassure you."
"Then what are you trying to do?"
"Determine whether you're dangerous."
Victor looked down at his hands.
"I killed that thing."
"Yes."
"It attacked me."
"I know."
"So what's the problem?"
Ward turned slightly in his seat.
"The problem is that the creature was classified as a threat to trained personnel."
Victor frowned.
"You mean your people?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Three."
Victor looked at him.
"Three of your people?"
Ward nodded.
"Three trained operatives were killed by the same type of creature six months ago."
Victor said nothing.
Ward continued.
"You encountered one alone."
"I didn't have a choice."
"I know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I know more about what happened tonight than you do."
Victor leaned back.
"Then tell me."
Ward was silent.
Victor waited.
Finally, Ward said:
"Not yet."
Victor laughed quietly.
"Of course."
Lyra looked at him.
"You should probably rest."
Victor turned toward her.
"I've been unconscious for how long?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Victor noticed.
"How long?"
Ward looked at his tablet.
"We're not certain."
"Give me your best estimate."
"Between six and nine hours."
Victor stared at him.
"That's it?"
"That's our estimate."
Victor looked outside.
The sky was beginning to lighten.
Dawn.
He hadn't realized how much time had passed.
His eyes returned to Ward.
"You said I disappeared nine years ago."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"We don't know."
"Then how do you know I disappeared?"
Ward looked at him.
"Because people saw you."
Victor frowned.
"Who?"
"Several people."
"When?"
"Nine years ago."
Victor waited.
Ward continued.
"You were involved with a research organization."
Victor's expression changed.
"Research?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
Ward glanced at him.
"Gate research."
The word meant nothing to Victor.
"What's a Gate?"
The vehicle became very quiet.
Victor looked at everyone.
Nobody answered immediately.
Lyra finally spoke.
"You really don't know."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
Ward looked forward again.
"That's going to complicate things."
Victor leaned forward.
"What's a Gate?"
Ward didn't answer.
Victor's patience disappeared.
"You said you're taking me somewhere for medical treatment."
"Yes."
"Then explain what you're talking about."
Ward sighed.
"A Gate is an anomaly."
"Anomaly?"
"A phenomenon that shouldn't exist."
Victor stared at him.
"That's not an explanation."
"No."
Ward looked at him through the mirror.
"It's the most accurate explanation I can give you right now."
Victor leaned back.
"Fine."
He looked outside again.
"I'll figure it out myself."
Ward's expression changed slightly.
"You probably will."
Victor noticed the answer.
"What does that mean?"
Ward didn't respond.
The SUV continued north.
---
About forty minutes later, they reached a checkpoint.
A tall metal barrier stretched across the road.
Two armed guards stood beside it.
One approached the SUV.
Ward lowered the window.
The guard looked inside.
His eyes immediately went to Victor.
He froze.
Ward noticed.
"Problem?"
The guard looked at Ward.
"Is that—"
Ward interrupted him.
"Open the gate."
The guard hesitated.
Then stepped away.
The barrier lifted.
Victor watched him through the window.
The guard continued staring until the SUV passed.
Victor turned toward Ward.
"He recognized me."
Ward didn't answer.
"Didn't he?"
"Yes."
"Who am I?"
Ward looked at him.
"That's what we're trying to determine."
Victor shook his head.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"If people recognize me, you already know who I am."
Ward's expression became serious.
"We know who you were."
Victor went still.
Ward continued.
"We don't know who you are now."
The words stayed with Victor.
Who he was.
Who he is.
For some reason, that distinction frightened him.
---
The facility appeared twenty minutes later.
Victor had expected a hospital.
It wasn't.
A massive concrete complex sat behind several layers of fencing.
There were no signs.
No logos.
No indication of what the building was.
Only cameras.
Guards.
Steel barriers.
The SUV passed through two security checkpoints before entering an underground parking area.
Victor looked around.
"This isn't a hospital."
Ward unbuckled his seat belt.
"No."
"Then where am I?"
"A secure facility."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the answer you're getting."
The doors opened.
Lyra stepped out first.
Victor remained seated.
Ward looked at him.
"Come."
Victor didn't move.
"Am I a prisoner?"
Ward considered the question.
"At the moment?"
Victor waited.
"Yes."
The honesty surprised him.
Ward continued.
"You're not under arrest."
"That sounds like a distinction you made up."
"It is."
Victor almost smiled.
He stepped out.
Two armed guards stood nearby.
Victor looked at them.
Then at Ward.
"Do I get a lawyer?"
Ward shook his head.
"No."
"A phone?"
"No."
"Can I leave?"
"No."
Victor stared at him.
"You're very good at making people feel safe."
Ward ignored the comment.
"Walk."
Victor followed.
---
The interior of the facility was colder than the outside.
Everything was white.
Concrete.
Glass.
Steel.
No windows.
The corridors were brightly lit.
People moved through them quickly.
Doctors.
Technicians.
Security personnel.
Nobody spoke unnecessarily.
And nearly everyone who saw Victor looked at him.
Some stopped.
Some whispered.
One woman dropped a tablet when she saw him.
Victor noticed every reaction.
He stopped walking.
"What did I do?"
Nobody answered.
Ward continued walking.
Victor followed.
They eventually reached a glass room.
A doctor was waiting inside.
She looked at Victor.
Then at Ward.
"Is it really him?"
Ward nodded.
The doctor's face became pale.
Victor looked between them.
"Apparently I'm famous."
The doctor didn't smile.
She approached him.
"My name is Dr. Evelyn Shaw."
Victor nodded.
"Victor."
"I know."
"Everyone seems to."
She ignored the comment.
"May I examine you?"
Victor looked at Ward.
"Do I have a choice?"
Ward answered honestly.
"No."
Victor sighed.
"Then go ahead."
---
The examination lasted almost an hour.
Blood samples.
X-rays.
Neurological tests.
Reflexes.
Heart rate.
Vision.
Hearing.
The results confused everyone.
Victor watched the doctor repeatedly check the same readings.
Finally, he asked:
"What's wrong?"
Dr. Shaw looked at the monitor.
"Nothing."
Victor frowned.
"Nothing?"
"That's the problem."
She turned the screen toward Ward.
"His bone structure is normal."
She switched to another image.
"His organs are normal."
Another.
"His blood chemistry is within normal human ranges."
Victor looked relieved.
"Good."
Dr. Shaw didn't look relieved.
She continued.
"His wounds, however..."
She stopped.
"What?"
"They're healing too quickly."
Victor looked at his arm.
The cut was now little more than a thin red line.
Dr. Shaw continued.
"Based on the photographs taken at the gas station, this wound should require several days to close."
Victor looked at Ward.
"And?"
Dr. Shaw looked uncomfortable.
"It's almost completely healed."
Victor said nothing.
Dr. Shaw examined his throat.
"The bruising is also disappearing."
Victor touched his neck.
"So?"
"So it's abnormal."
Victor shrugged.
"Maybe I'm lucky."
Dr. Shaw looked directly at him.
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
"You're not."
Victor didn't understand.
"Why?"
She looked at Ward.
Ward gave her a small nod.
Dr. Shaw walked to another monitor.
She opened a file.
A photograph appeared.
Victor stared at it.
The image showed a man.
He was standing beside a group of people.
The photograph was old.
But the man—
Victor stopped breathing.
It was him.
Not similar.
Not close.
Him.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same hair.
Victor stepped closer to the screen.
"That's me."
Ward nodded.
"Yes."
Victor stared at the date.
Nine years ago.
He looked younger.
But not by much.
Maybe a little.
He couldn't tell.
He turned toward Ward.
"Where was this taken?"
"Inside a Gate research facility."
Victor stared.
"I worked there?"
"Yes."
"What was my job?"
Ward didn't answer.
Victor's voice became sharper.
"What was my job?"
Dr. Shaw spoke quietly.
"You were one of the people responsible for studying the first Gates."
Victor looked at the photograph again.
There were seven people in it.
Six were unfamiliar.
One woman stood beside him.
Victor stared at her face.
His head suddenly hurt.
He grabbed the edge of the table.
The room blurred.
The woman in the photograph smiled.
Victor heard a voice.
"You promised."
He blinked.
The room returned.
Dr. Shaw caught his arm.
"Victor?"
He pulled away.
"Who is she?"
Ward looked at the photograph.
"The woman beside you?"
"Yes."
"Her name is Elena."
Victor stared.
"Where is she?"
Ward didn't answer.
Victor's stomach tightened.
"Where is she?"
Ward looked directly at him.
"Dead."
The word struck harder than Victor expected.
He stared at the photograph.
The woman was smiling.
For some reason, that smile hurt.
Victor pressed his fingers against his temple.
"What happened to her?"
Ward remained silent.
Victor looked at him.
"What happened?"
Ward finally answered.
"She died the same night you disappeared."
Victor felt his chest tighten.
"How?"
"We don't know."
"You're lying."
"We aren't."
"Then why do you keep looking at me like you know something?"
Ward stepped closer.
"Because we have spent nine years trying to understand what happened that night."
Victor stared at him.
"And now I'm here."
"Yes."
"Alive."
"Yes."
Victor looked at the photograph.
Seven people.
Six strangers.
One dead woman.
And him.
He stared at his own face.
Then something caught his attention.
The photograph had been folded at one corner.
Victor reached toward the screen.
"Zoom in."
Ward looked at him.
"Why?"
"Her hand."
The image was enlarged.
Elena's hand rested against Victor's arm.
Around her wrist was a small black bracelet.
Victor stared.
He knew it.
He didn't know how.
But he knew it.
His breathing slowed.
He whispered:
"That bracelet..."
Ward looked at him.
"What about it?"
Victor closed his eyes.
Another fragment surfaced.
A dark room.
Rain against glass.
Elena standing in front of him.
Her hand trembling.
And Victor saying:
"If I forget..."
The memory broke apart.
Victor opened his eyes.
His heart was racing.
"If I forget what?"
Nobody answered.
Victor looked at Ward.
"I almost remembered something."
Ward nodded.
"We know."
Victor frowned.
"How?"
Ward pointed toward the monitor.
A small device beside Victor's head was recording his brain activity.
The readings had changed dramatically.
Ward looked at the data.
Then at Victor.
"Because something just happened to your brain."
Victor stared at the screen.
The numbers continued moving.
His heartbeat sounded strangely loud in his ears.
Then—
the world went silent.
Not the room.
Not the facility.
Something inside him.
Everything around Victor remained exactly as it had been.
Dr. Shaw was standing beside the examination table.
Ward was looking at the monitor.
Lyra stood near the glass door.
Nobody reacted.
Nobody seemed to notice anything unusual.
Victor blinked.
A translucent panel had appeared directly in front of him.
It floated in the air.
No wires.
No projector.
No glass.
Nothing supporting it.
Victor stared.
The letters were perfectly clear.
[CONDITION DETECTED]
Victor stopped breathing.
Another line appeared.
[MEMORY CORE: DAMAGED]
His eyes widened.
A third line appeared.
[HOST IDENTIFICATION: VICTOR HALE]
Victor's heart slammed against his ribs.
The name was familiar.
Too familiar.
Then a final line appeared.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION: 0.01%]
Victor stared at the panel.
Dr. Shaw noticed his expression.
"Victor?"
He didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
"Victor, are you feeling dizzy?"
Victor looked at her.
Then back at the floating panel.
She couldn't see it.
He was certain.
Nobody was looking at it.
Nobody reacted.
The realization frightened him more than the message itself.
He looked toward Ward.
Ward was still studying the medical monitor.
Victor glanced back at the panel.
It remained there.
Silent.
Waiting.
He slowly raised one hand.
His fingers passed through it.
Nothing.
No resistance.
No sensation.
Victor's breathing became shallow.
Dr. Shaw frowned.
"Victor, what are you looking at?"
Victor looked directly at her.
He made a decision.
"I don't know."
Dr. Shaw studied his face.
"What do you mean?"
Victor looked at the empty space in front of him.
The System remained visible.
Only to him.
He swallowed.
"Nothing."
Ward finally turned from the monitor.
"What happened?"
Victor looked at him.
For the first time since waking in the grave, Victor deliberately lied.
"Nothing."
Ward studied him.
Victor held his gaze.
The translucent panel remained between them.
Then another line appeared.
[INITIALIZATION CONTINUES...]
Victor's eyes moved toward it.
A faint sensation spread through his body.
Not pain.
Not warmth.
Something else.
Something that felt like a door beginning to open.
And Victor suddenly understood one thing.
Whatever this System was...
he was the only person in this room who knew it existed.
He would keep it that way.
For now.